Friday, 3 February 2012

:: Friendly Friands ::

Friands
of Love

::
Megann’s Kitchen ::

:: valentine's day raspberry friands ::

It
was February in 2009 that I first made these Friands inspired by Donna Hay’s
Classics Cookbook 2. It was the time of the devastating bushfires in Victoria &
one of them threatened my hometown of Myrtleford in the Alpine Shire. Many of
my friends & loved ones were on high alert. All of them were fighting –
fighting the fire in the Country Fire Authority (CFA), fighting for their homes
& fighting for the town that I know & love. I felt so helpless being so
far away. What could I do? I decided to hold a bake sale to raise money for the
Red Cross Bushfire Appeal who had a bushfire appeal. I took a selection of
baked treats to both my work and my husband’s & due to the generosity of
the contributors we made almost $500!

I
just love Friands – because of their name, they make me think of my friends
& the people that I love in life. I have continued to make these gorgeous
treats time & time again just adoring the simplicity of them. They can come
in the guise of blueberry as well, one of my favourites, but this time I made
red raspberry ones for my friend & Valentine. Mick – I heart you... in
friands!

Preheat your oven 180°C (350°F). Pre-prepare by greasing
& flouring a friand or muffin tin (this time I chose a heart shaped silicone
mould).
Place the butter & vanilla over low heat, melting it &
allowing it to bubble until it starts to go just golden in colour. Set aside to
cool slightly.
Place almond meal, icing sugar, flour & baking powder
in a bowl & stir to combine. Beat the egg
whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in the egg whites, and stir until just combined. Add the melted butter mixture & fold again
until just mixed in. Spoon approx 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each prepared
mould, then place chosen berries on
top by gently pushing them in until they are just poking up from the mixture.
Bake for 20-25
minutes or until golden & springy on top but still moist in the
centre. Leave to cool for 10 minutes & turn out onto a wire rack.

::makes
approximately 10 gorgeous friands.

:: beating egg whites to a soft peak ::

:: folding through the eggwhites into the mixture ::

To
Serve

::Simply
dust with icing sugar. For an extra indulgence, I sometimes like to warm them
& add a dollop of double cream. Ooooohhhh!!!

:: my little kitchen helper ::

:: cleaing up the dishes ::

Kitchen
Notes::As
mentioned, you can choose any berry that you like! I have used blueberries,
strawberries & raspberries all successfully. You could also try
blackberries or peaches.::I
also like to make mini friends for my toddler – he loves to help make them as
well!::Whenever
you have leftover eggwhites, friends are a great solution. Eggwhites can keep
up to two weeks in the fridge if in a sealed container.::Friands
freeze very well. These make for a great lunchbox snack as they thaw just in
time for morning tea as well as holding their shape.::Replace
the flour with a gluten free substitute to make friands for coeliac friends.

:: strawberry friands cooling in a mini muffin tin ::

Friand

::The friand pastry, which has become popular in Australia & New Zealand appears to have been based on the
French financier; however, Australian & New Zealand friands typically have
additional flavourings such as fruit, coconut, chocolate, and nuts. Australian & New Zealand friands are
also typically baked in oval shapes.

:: making mini strawberry friands ::

::A financier is a small French cake, often mistaken
for a pastry. The financier is a light, moist teacake, similar to sponge cake, and usually contains almond flour, crushed or ground almonds, or almond flavoring.
The basis of the cake itself is beurre noisette (brown butter), egg whites,
powdered sugar and flour. Financiers are often baked in shaped moulds. The name
"financier" is said to derive from the traditional rectangular mould,
which resembles a bar of gold. Another theory says that the cake became popular
in the financial district of Paris surrounding La Bourse du Commerce (the former name of the
Paris stock exchange).

:: flavourful raspberry friands ::

Financiers are often served topped with whipped
cream, berries, or other fruit, and served accompanied by ice cream or other frozen confections. Financier
pans are traditionally rectangular; however, other shapes are not uncommon.

2 comments:

Oh, Megann, your love for your friends and family come through so clearly in this post. Well, they do in every one of your posts, but in this one you wrote "Whenever you have leftover egg whites, friends are a great solution.". Please, please don't correct it. I love that your friends were on your mind so much that you used the very word that friands remind you of. It made me smile just thinking of how lucky they are to have you in their lives.

Your recipe looks amazing - it definitely goes on the list of dishes I want to make. Will let you know how it goes :)

Hahaha, so true Paola. So many memories of my food include some very special people & events in my life... though I have to admit that spellcheck's auto correct played some havoc on my on my post changing it when I wasn't looking!!! But so true, whenever you have leftover ANYTHING friends (& friands) are a fabulous solution & I am sure they will all agree!

:: IN THE KITCHEN ::

:: MORE ABOUT THE BAKER & MAKER ::

"I believe food is about creating memories. There is not one dish that does not have a fond memory attached to it in one way or another, so please, enjoy my memories of cooking & creating in Megann's Kitchen..."